Google wants to change that by launching its new initiative
called Made
With Code, which is designed to help girls pick up
coding skills in high school. The company is working with several
partners for the project, including Chelsea Clinton, Girls Inc.,
Girl Scouts of the USA, "The Office" star Mindy Kaling, MIT Media
Lab, and more.

Part of the program will include introducing girls to projects
based on Blocky,
a web-based programming editor that requires users to build
projects by dragging blocks together to build an app with no
actual typing required. These Blocky-based projects could include
things like putting together beats for a music track or designing
bracelets through the 3-D printing platform Shapeways.

Google is also donating $50 million to support various coding
programs. For example, $1 million of that allotment will be
donated to a new program at Codecademy. Schools will earn $125
worth of rewards from DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding platform
for teachers that need to raise money to buy materials for their
classrooms, whenever a female student completes a special
Codecademy course.

So, each time a girl completes the course, she'll be helping the
school buy more technology like laptops and tablets for the
classroom. Teachers can also earn
$500 if four girls complete the course.

Google is also
collaborating with Girl Scouts of the USA to expose young girls
to coding.

Smaller
organizations have been trying to get women into the computer
science field for years, but the backing of a major company such
as Google could help boost the initiative. Girls Dev, for
example, holds regular meetups to get women into the
coding community.

Google and
Yahoo both recently revealed their diversity numbers, showing
that both companies are largely comprised of men. Only 30% of
Google's employees in the U.S. are female, while 37% of Yahoo's
global workforce are women.